David Abell
- Master of Business (Accounting and Finance), Victoria University
- Formerly Senior Manager, Group Insurance, ANZ
- 30 years’ experience in captive insurance
- Specialist expertise in property and BI, directors’ & officer’s liability, fidelity, cyber and professional indemnity insurance
- Sessional lecturer, Monash University – developed and taught the Insurance Law and Principles of Risk Transfer courses in the Risk Management and Business degrees
- Sessional Lecturer, Swinburne University, Compliance & Risk course in the Master of Corporate Governance degree
- Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance And Finance (ANZIIF)
- Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA)
Tony Bonney
- Guides leaders and organisations in using their purpose and values to define and consistently be their “best version”, and through this, grow customer and team engagement and loyalty
- Consults on strategy, leadership, culture and engagement; and utilises Agile practices
- Specialises in human engagement, ethical intelligence, values and purpose and their application to commercial systems
- Managing Director and Head of Strategy, Grow On Purpose; our purpose is to help you grow through your purpose
- Non-executive Director and owner of Podium Business Events; creating experiences that matter
- Board Member, TasWriters
- Board Member, Relationships Australia, Tasmania
- Board Committee Member, Mary MacKillop Place
Chris Bromhead
- Currently GC & CRO for WLTH Money, a fintech start-up and soon to be launched digital lending and payments challenger, seeking its prudential license as a Restricted ADI (RADI), with teams based in Australia, Europe and the Middle East
- Pro bono Company Secretary for Redkite, a national children’s cancer charity
- Consultant HSF and A&O
- Adviser, Fabrick Innovations (previously Libra Australia)
- Formerly Head of Legal, BT and Perpetual
- Legal Consultant Middle East (Dubai)
- Over 25 years’ experience in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, banking and financial services, investment, FinTech and digital technology
Mark Darwin
- Leading policyholder insurance lawyer and advocate with 30 years’ experience in advice and analysis, strategy and the negotiation and resolution of claims
- Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills (since 2002)
- Former Partner, McCullough Robertson
- Led the Herbert Smith Freehills Australian insurance practice and developed its policyholder representation focus
- Advised on the legal merits and strategy for a range of complex and significant insurance claims under ISR (property damage and business interruption), contract and construction-all-risks, trade credit, general liability, professional indemnity, and directors and officers liability insurance policies
- Specialises in managing the strategy, evidence gathering and pursuit of contested major claims, and their resolution through negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation
Mark Doepel
- Partner, Sparke Helmore, Lawyers
- Specialises in professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ claims, clinical negligence claims, reinsurance disputes and cyber issues
- Recommended by peers as one of Sydney’s leading medical negligence lawyers for defendants in Doyle’s Guide
- Current chairman and a director of Lloyd’s Australia Limited
- Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney
- Convenor of the Council of Asia Pacific Insurance Broker Associations
- Member of the World Federation of Insurance Intermediaries Executive Committee
- Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Dr Ian Enright
- Lawyer, academic author and company director
- Formerly law firm partner and insurance executive
- Formerly International and Australian Counsel for the Reinsurance Group of America
- 35 years’ experience in insurance and law
- Designed, developed and led the teaching for the University of New South Wales and University of Technology, Sydney, insurance course in the Master of Laws Degree
- Occasional lecturer and papers presented in commercial law subjects: Geneva Association, Warsaw University, London School of Economics, Cambridge University, University of Sydney and Monash University
- Co-author with Robert Merkin of the 4th edition of Sutton on Insurance Law (2014)
- Life Member of the Financial Services Accountants Association
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2015 in recognition of his contribution to Insurance Law and Insurance Law Education
Ian Jackson
- Held various roles within the former Royal Insurance Group (until 2004)
- Contractor to various general insurers (such as Munich Re & Liberty, in work mainly involving technical training in the Casualty classes of insurance) (2004-2016)
- Specialised in areas relating to legal liability in both the UK & Australia, including: investigation, negotiation and settlement of most types of Liability claim; periodic claims/underwriting audits of branch operations; underwriting of Liability classes of business; and portfolio management, control and technical training in relation to the Liability portfolios
- Project Manager for various regulatory reform projects, including Financial Services Reform Act, GST, the WA FSL changes, the Terrorism Insurance Act and the Privacy Act
- Formerly Compliance Manager for Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance 2004-2008
Bede Kelleher
- Barrister at Law practicing from 13th Floor St James Hall Chambers (since 2003)
- Formerly solicitor and general counsel at Abbott Tout (1996 to 2003)
- 21 years’ experience in insurance law and litigation
- Member of the NSW Bar Association Common Law Committee 2014-2015
Peter Mann
- Barrister at Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers, Sydney, specialising in insurance and reinsurance disputes
- Formerly an insurance partner of Clayton Utz, Deacons (now Norton Rose Fulbright Australia) and Abbott Tout (which subsequently merged with HWL Ebsworth)
- 40 years’ experience in insurance and insurance law
- Teaches Insurance Law and Risk at undergraduate level at the University of Sydney
- Author of Mann’s Annotated Insurance Contracts Act (now in its 7th edition, Thomson Reuters) and Mann’s Annotated Insurance Law (an online publication, Thomson Reuters)
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to Insurance Law and Insurance Law Education
- Life member of AILA
Professor Robert Merkin KC
- Professor of Law at the Universities of Exeter and Reading, and Distinguished Professor at China University of Politics and Law; Honorary Professor at the University of Auckland; visiting Professor at the University of Sydney and City Athens, running intensive LLM insurance law courses at each of them
- SIAC and HCIAC Arbitration Panel member
- Honorary Life President, AIDA; Past President, British Insurance Law Association
- Special Counsel, Duncan Cotterill
- Co-author with Ian Enright of the 4th edition of Sutton on Insurance Law (2014) and author of numerous books on insurance, reinsurance and arbitration
- Regular speaker for AILA, including Geoff Masel Lecturer in 2010, BILA and NZILA
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to Insurance Law and Insurance Law Education
- Consultant to the English and Scottish Law Commissions on the reform of insurance law, and Special Parliamentary Adviser on the drafting and passing of the Insurance Act 2015
- Consultant to the New Zealand Ministry of Business for insurance law reforms projected for 2020
- Awarded honorary KC by the Crown in February 2015 for contribution to insurance law
Professor Greg Reinhardt
- Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University
- Member, Law Institute of Victoria
- Member, Law Council of Australia
- Member, LAWASIA
- Member, Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration
- Board Member, Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration
- Formerly law firm partner
- 40 years’ insurance experience
- Co-authored a casebook on Civil Procedure for Butterworths (now in its third edition)
- Contributed chapters for the Law Book Company’s Laws of Australia in the area of Criminal Procedure (published early 1996)
- Wrote the Australian paper of Trans-national litigation for the International Conference on Civil Procedure held in Taormina, Sicily, in September 1995
- Contributed to the Insolvency Law Journal and the Torts Law Journal
- Editor of the Insurance Law Bulletin
- Presentation on “The Deep Pocket Syndrome” in Civil Litigation at a 1996 seminar jointly convened by the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Engineering
- Lectured at the Leo Cussen Institute on Choice of Jurisdiction in Litigation
- Paper on Recent Developments in Claims against Health Professionals to the Medico-Legal Sub-Group of the Australian Medical Association
- Lectured on the Law of Evidence for private law firms
- Edited the Journal of Judicial Administration
- Wrote the Australian paper for the International Insurance Law Conference in Marrakech, May 1998
- Convened and presented seminars at the Law Institute of Victoria in the Commercial Litigation series
- Law Institute of Victoria Certificate of Service in recognition of significant contribution to the Law Institute of Victoria and the legal profession – 11 November 1999
- AILA Prize for 2002 – for services to the Australian Insurance Law Association for insurance law education
Professor Julie-Anne Tarr
- Professor at the Queensland University of Technology Business School
- PhD (University of Queensland) and Juris Doctorate (Cornell University)
- Has worked on international and national tertiary education program development
- Corporate and not-for-profit board director and financial services consultant
- Regulation, governance, ethics, insurance and risk, health, medical research, commercial and intellectual property, data, commercial law, comparative law and law reform
- Member of the Australian Institute of Management, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Law Council of Australia (Business Law Section), International Bar Association (Insurance), The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Associate), Graduate certifications in Mediation and Cross-Cultural Mediation
- Author of Australian Insurance Law (Thomson Reuters) and Disclosure and Concealment in Consumer Insurance Contracts (Cavendish Publishing Ltd) and has published extensively in the area of insurance law
- Awarded the QUT Vice Chancellor Performance Awards in Excellence in the areas of research excellence (2010 and 2017) and contribution to building a research culture (2014), and nominated for the David Gardiner Outstanding Teacher inaugural award (2015)
Roger Traves QC
- Leading silk: appellate and trial advocate
- Wide-ranging commercial, insurance and public law practice
- Qualified mediator
- Former President of the Bar Association of Queensland
Samantha Traves
- Member, Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal
- Former Senior Lecturer, Visiting Fellow, Head of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Insurance Law and Head of Commercial Law at the Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology
- Adjunct Professor at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, and visiting lecturer in Commercial Law at the College of Law, Australian National University
- Admitted Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland
- Former consultant to Barry.Nilsson. Lawyers, a position held from 2003 to 2019
- Author of Commercial Law (now in its fifth edition, LexisNexis) and co-author of Due Diligence (LawBook Co), and has published extensively in the area of insurance law
- Assisted in the drafting of insurance contracts legislation for Papua New Guinea
- Reporter and Chair for the Session on Preventive Measures at the AIDA World Congress in Rome in October 2014
- Former member of Queensland Law Reform Commission
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2007 for contribution to Insurance Law and an Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) award for excellence in the provision of insurance law education.
- Member of the Scientific Council of the Association International de Droit des Assurances (AIDA)
Dr Simon Allison
- Associate Lecturer at the Curtin University Law School (Faculty of Business and Law) teaching in a range of areas including tort, insurance law, contract law and statutory interpretation
- PhD (Law) from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College) and a Masters of Philosophy (Law), a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia
- Research interests include insurance law and related fields including arbitration, conflict of laws, tort liability and statutory interpretation
- Simon’s PhD considered the interaction of Protection and Indemnity Insurance, management system standardisation and industry codes of conduct in governing the use of private armed guards on commercial ships
- Simon’s MPhil dissertation considered the role of insurers in the evolution of environmental salvage awards
- Simon’s work on Australia’s cargo liability regime was cited by AMTAC in a submission to the 2022 Review of Section 11 of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1991
- Formerly Ministerial Research Officer for the Commonwealth Minister for Environment and Heritage (2005 to 2007)
- Formerly Ministerial Liaison Officer for the Office of the Western Australian Minister for Energy and Training (2008 to 2010)
- Completed internship at the International Maritime Organization, a specialised agency of the UN, and observed meetings of the Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping and the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (February 2015)
Dr Robin Bowley
- Lecturer in Law at the University of Technology, Sydney, since 2009
- Experienced in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in insurance, corporate and financial services law
- Lawyer, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (2005 – 2011)
- Contributor to: ANZIIF Diploma and Professional Development courses; financial services law courses in Master of Applied Finance program conducted by Kaplan Higher Education (formerly FINISA); postgraduate applied corporate governance programs conducted by the Governance Institute of Australia (formerly Chartered Secretaries Australia)
- Member of AILA NSW Education Committee since 2011
Elmi Carlean
- Member of the WA Bar Association practicing from Francis Burt Chambers in Perth since 2015
- Practiced in Brisbane from 2004–2009 and was involved in a wide range of commercial litigation, insurance claims and corporate governance matters
- Acted as in-house legal counsel in the Public Sector for the Departments of Water, Environment, and Transport from 2009–2015, and has expertise in resources disputes, particularly in the water sector and mining industry
- Expert advocate who has appeared as Counsel in all State and Federal Courts and Tribunals
- Areas of interest include mediation and commercial negotiation, having completed training both as a mediator and in commercial arbitration
- Has a Maritime Law LLM from the University of Queensland and has acted in a number of shipping matters as well as several aviation claims
- Adjunct lecturer for the College of Law who has published a number of articles in various legal publications and presented papers and training courses at numerous CPD events in WA
- Regularly contributes to the profession by way of acting pro bono on worthy matters and volunteering her time in order to mentor students
Stanley Drummond
- Partner, Thomson Geer
- Practises in the areas of insurance, superannuation, financial services regulation, managed investment schemes, and financial planning
- Co-author with Peter Mann of Thomson Reuters Mann’s Annotated Insurance Contracts Act, 8th edition, and Mann’s Annotated Insurance Law (online publication)
- Member, Editorial Committee, LexisNexis Insurance Law Bulletin and Superannuation Law Bulletin
- Member, New South Wales Committee, Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA)
- Arranges and frequently presents at AILA seminars and webinars, including the Annual Life Insurance Law Review
- Awarded AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2021 in recognition of his contribution to insurance law and insurance law education
- Recognised by Best Lawyers in Australia as a leading lawyer in the practice area of Insurance Law (since 2014)
- Named by Who’s Who Legal as a leading individual in the practice area of Pensions and Benefits (since 2015)
Iain Freeman
- Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution team at Lavan, an independent Western Australian law firm
- Acted for both commercial clients and insurers, predominantly in the areas of commercial dispute resolution, professional indemnity, construction matters, directors’ and officers’ insurance, fire, property and liability insurance, and trade practices matters
Fred Hawke
- Consultant and former Partner, Clayton Utz
- Formerly AIG Australian Casualty and Financial Lines Claims Manager and Australasian General Counsel
- 43 years’ experience in insurance and law
- Taught Professional Indemnity Insurance in the Graduate Studies Program at the University of Melbourne
- Member of the Editorial Board and Former General Editor of the Insurance Law Journal published by Lexis Nexis
- Author of the chapter on Australia in the Westlaw loose-leaf publication International Insurance Law and Regulation
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 1998 in recognition of his contribution to Insurance Law and Insurance Law Education, and the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance E.E. Vines Memorial Prize in 1995 and 1998
- Voted Best Lawyers Australia’s Melbourne Insurance Lawyer of the Year, 2012 and 2019
- Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance
- Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Honorary Fellow and Australian Reporter for the Center for International Legal Studies
David Lee
- Has extensive experience across financial lines, professional indemnity, public and products liability, property, statutory classes and excess of loss/reinsurance.
- With more than 30 years’ experience in insurance law, David is regularly called upon by both underwriters and corporates for his expert advice and guidance in the handling of a wide variety of claims across the above classes
- Has many years’ experience conducting complex litigation in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal of NSW and Federal Courts.
- Recognised as a leading insurance and litigation lawyer by Best Lawyers 2021 and is listed as a leading Public & Product Liability (Defendant) lawyer by Doyle’s Guide
- Formerly the President of the National Board of AILA
Marnie McConnell
- Chief Legal Counsel, Australia and New Zealand at RGA Reinsurance Company of Australia Ltd
- Formerly insurance litigation partner at Norton Rose Fulbright
- 20 years’ experience in insurance law
Dr Brenda McGivern
- Legal practitioner and academic who practises, researches and teaches in the areas of health, torts and insurance law
- Deputy Executive Dean and Associate Dean Community and Engagement, of the Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education (FABLE) at the University of Western Australia
- Consultant with Moray & Agnew Lawyers in Perth
- Chair of the Reproductive Technology Council of WA
- Member of the Clinical Ethics Service for Princess Margaret Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital
Mark Radford
- Principal of Radford Lawyers
- Over 30 years’ experience in insurance and financial services law
- Acknowledged in The Best Lawyers in Australia in insurance law and regulatory practice
- Member of Editorial Board of Financial Services Newsletter
- A contributor to Sutton on Insurance Law regulatory sections
- Advises the insurance industry (including insurers, reinsurers, insurance agents and brokers) on issues such as regulatory compliance and complex insurance disputes
- Advises industry associations including NIBA on legal issues affecting members regularly dealing with Treasury and regulators including ASIC and APRA
Chris Rimmer
- Admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1996
- Admitted to the High Court of Australia in 2001
- Former partner of Jackson McDonald
- Founding partner of Jarman McKenna
- Over 15 years’ experience in providing advice to insurers and appearing as Counsel in the District and Supreme Courts and Court of Appeal
- Areas of practice include public liability, professional indemnity, workers’ compensation and motor vehicle claims
Chris Rodd OAM
- Solicitor, insurance law consultant and nationally accredited mediator
- Formerly Technical Counsel for CGU/IAG
- 37 years’ experience in insurance law (11 years in private practice and 26 years with CGU)
- Formerly Senior Fellow Faculty of Law Monash University – co-lecturing in insurance law in the law faculty undergraduate program
- Awarded the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2013 in recognition of his contribution to Insurance Law and Insurance Law Education
- Honorary AILA Life Member
- Australia’s representative on the AIDA Presidential Council (Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances)
- Member FDCC (USA) – Federation of Defence and Corporate Counsel
Robert Samut
- Principal of Insurance and Health at Barry.Nilsson.
- Specialises in the areas of medical negligence and health, professional indemnity, public liability, product liability, commercial claims and insurance contract advice
- Listed as a Recommended Medical Negligence and Public & Product Liability Lawyer in the 2020 edition of Doyles Guide
- Recognised in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 editions of Best Lawyers for Insurance Law
Dr Tony Tarr
- Senior consultant, Clyde & Co
- Director, Robyn Ashton Consulting
- PhD (Law) (University of Cambridge)
- PhD (Law & Economics) (University of Canterbury)
- Chairman, Fiji Law Reform Commission (1996–1997)
- Formerly Sir Gerard Brennan Professor of Law and Head, T C Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland
- Formerly Professor of Law and Dean, School of Law, Indiana University – Indianapolis
- Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders
- Associate, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Experienced company director on not-for-profit and corporate boards including financial services, disability, law associations and resources
- Senior corporate executive, professorial, law dean and university experience
- Author of Insurance Law in New Zealand (two editions), Australian Insurance Law (three editions), Insurance: The Laws of Australia (three revisions), and Insurance Law (with M. Clarke and J. Tarr)
- General Editor, Insurance Law Journal (1987–1992)
- General Editor of upcoming book Drone Law: Assessment, Regulation and Insurance to be published by Informa UK Ltd trading as Routledge Taylor & Francis Group (with J. Tarr and M. Thompson) in first half of 2021
Mark Waller
- Consultant and former Partner, Commercial Litigation practice group, Clayton Utz
- Acts for banks and financial services clients, leading listed companies and government corporations and agencies
- More than 30 years’ experience as a litigator
- Specialises in the areas of litigation and dispute resolution, insurance and legal liability risk management, ADR/customer and event remediation schemes, director’s and officer’s liability and insurance reviews and corporate and infrastructure insurance reviews
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